Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
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All Constellations » Crux » 

Mimosa - β Crucis (beta Crucis)

Mimosa, also designated as β Crucis (beta Crucis), is a variable and multiple hypergiant star in the constellation of Crux.

Mimosa visual magnitude is 1.25, making it the 19th brightest star in the sky. Thanks to its high brightness, Mimosa is clearly visible when observed from locations with dark skyes, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

The table below summarizes the key facts about Mimosa:

1.25
Hypergiant
Mimosa - β Crucis (beta Crucis) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Mimosa

Mimosa is situated south of the celestial equator, as such, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of Mimosa are provided in the following table:

12h 47m 43s
-59° 41’ 18”
302.46°
3.18°
Crux

The simplified sky map below shows the position of Mimosa in the sky:

Finder chart Mimosa - β Crucis (beta Crucis) star
Simplified finder chart for Mimosa - β Crucis (beta Crucis).

Visibility of Mimosa from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Mimosa - β Crucis (beta Crucis) is currently not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

Digitized Sky Survey image of Mimosa

The image below is a photograph of Mimosa from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins). The proper motion of Mimosa is -0.048 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.014 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Mimosa - β Crucis (beta Crucis) star
DSS2 image of Mimosa. The red arrow shows the motion of Mimosa during the next 10000 years (-8.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and -2.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Mimosa from the Sun and relative movement

Mimosa is distant 352.43 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 16 kilometers per second.

108.11 pc
352.43 ly
16 km/s
-0.048 arcsec/year
-0.014 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Mimosa

Mimosa belongs to spectral class B0 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a hypergiant star.

-3.92
B0III
14354K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where Mimosa is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of Mimosa. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Mimosa star system properties

Mimosa is a visual double star which can be observed only with the help of very large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Mimosa double sysyem:

1.25
7.25
6
371.6 arcsec

Alternative designations of Mimosa

Mimosa
β Crucis
(beta Crucis)
SAO240259
SAO240259